Stories for April 15th 2015

Two South African companies, Mantis in the hotel business and Comair airline, will be playing a vital role in developing St Helena's economy through increased communications and the tourist industry, once the international airport is opened next February, according to the latest news from the British Overseas Territory in mid South Atlantic.

Argentina's cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez said on Tuesday he was convinced that Maximo Kirchner, the son of president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, would run for an elected post representing the province of Buenos Aires in the coming general elections of next October.

The game of interests surrounding the investigation of Argentine special prosecutor Alberto Nisman death escalated on Tuesday when police raided the home of the deceased's mother, and cabinet chief Anibal Fernández accused Nisman's former wife of putting 'obstacles' into the probe and suggesting insurance claims could be involved in her actions.

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, cut its growth estimates for Argentina for this year forecasting a 0.3% contraction followed by a shy recovery of 0.1% in 2016, the first post-Kirchner year. The data is from the IMF World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday in Washington.

The International Monetary Fund expects Brazil's economy to contract by one percent this year, it said Tuesday, slashing its previous forecast of 0.3% growth. The world's seventh-largest economy is being hit by inflation, private-sector doldrums and a massive corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras, the IMF said in its latest forecast.

Brazil raised estimates for both its corn and soybean harvests, citing rains which had come in time to boost yields of later planted crops, besides boosting expectations for safrinha corn. The official Conab crop bureau lifted by 1.0m tons to 94.3m tons its estimate for Brazil's soybean production in 2014-15, as late rainfall helped results surprise positively in particular in central areas.

The White House announced on Tuesday that President Obama intends to remove Cuba from the US government's list of nations that sponsor terrorism, eliminating a major obstacle to the restoration of diplomatic relations after decades of hostilities. The decision to remove Cuba from the list represents a crucial step in Obama’s effort to turn the page on a Cold War-era dispute.